Is your CV scaring employers away?
29 Oct 2020
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This Halloween we explore the frightening topic that your CV might be scaring employers away and provide a number of tips below to rectify this.
Some of these points may seem obvious, but you would be surprised the amount of CVs we receive that can fall short on these points.
1 - Crazy Font
Unless the job you are applying for is for a particularly creative or artistic role, then keep the cv formal and in one colour, it looks more professional and is much easier for the employer to read.
If you want to show off your creative flair it may be worth having two CVs to send, one more formal and the other more creative, or alternatively accompany the CV with a portfolio of work you could send separately.
2 - CV Structure
There is nothing worse than trying to read a cv that has a poor layout, for example a lack of spacing between paragraphs or no subheadings to help employers navigate the cv in search of key points.
Again, it is about making the CV look more professional and easier on the eye.
If a CV is too hard to read then it can easily get overlooked, especially if the employer has lots of CVs to review.
For more specific CV structure tips check out our blog – Writing a Professional & Competitive CV
3 – Lots of Short Term Jobs
Employers are often concerned with progressing with candidates that have a cv with lots of short-term jobs as they fear it could portray someone who is a job hopper and wont last.
The issue is not so much the short-term jobs but more often or not the lack of explanation for why.
So, it would massively help to explain reasons for leaving for each role.
It could simply be that they were freelance roles or fixed term contracts, if so explain that.
Same goes with reason for leaving such as redundancy, if you make a note of it on the CV it will help your chances.
Don’t assume the employer will look to ask on the interview, more often than not and especially if you are up against a lot of other CVs, an employer will not invest the energy to find out why and simply move onto the next CV, so you need to anticipate points of concern on the CV and provide an explanation.
4 - Employment Gaps
Ensure any gaps in employment dates have an explanation filled in, be it time spent traveling or job seeking.
5 – Non- Local Candidates
Residing local to your prospective future employer can be a good sign of a long-term match. So, if you are applying for a job not local it can be a cause for concern to the employer.
In this scenario it would be wise to tailor your CV to the vacancy and location in question and ensure to explain how that location would work for you, perhaps you have family nearby or no ties to your current location allowing you to relocate easily and at short notice.
It may even be worth noting if you are only renting property at present as this would also allow you to relocate more quickly and easily.
6 – Missing Contact Information
It may sound obvious, but always ensure you include mobile and email contact details on your CV, ideally at the top of the CV so it’s easy to find.
Also, on that note make sure you don’t have an unprofessional email address.
7 – Spelling Mistakes
Believe it or not we see it all the time!
Ensure to use a spell checker and get a 2nd person to read it first to also ensure the grammar flows.
8 – Not Enough Info
In recent years we have seen a trend of people trying to get their CVs down to two pages in length. Yes, it makes it more concise for an employer to read but should not be at the expense of limiting selling your experience.
Ensure you include info about what projects / assignments you have been working on and not just simply a list of employers and job duties. Project info is what can strike a chord most with employers.
9 – No Education / Academic Information
The saying goes that your degree / qualifications only help you get your first job. This is not true; employers will be looking to understand how you got into the industry and more often than not what academic route / bias you have.
If you do not have formal qualifications, came via an apprenticeship route or perhaps your original formal qualifications are not applicable to the industry in question, please explain this, the key thing is for the employer to understand your route to the industry as it will give them further confidence of your relevance.
Same goes for those that are entering the industry via a self-taught method, perhaps even include examples of self-taught projects / portfolios to back this up.
10 - Out of Date Objectives
Been using the same cv for the last 10 years?
Whilst that is fine if you want to keep updating the employment history, but you also need to check other aspects of the cv such as a summary or objectives section are being updated as well and is essential they are tailored to the job you are applying for.
It can be easy to overlook this and send a potential employer mixed messages. For example you might say in your summary that you are pursuing a particular level of role or seeking a company that can support you with further academic learning (which you may now no longer require support and funding on).
An employer could potentially reject you for this on the basis they feel they would not be able to provide such support, furthermore, being rejected for something that no longer even applies.
Hope you found these tips helpful.
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